Howa 1500 barrel Removal

[71GTO]

Hello all. My name is Tom and I am a newbie to this fine forum. I'm also a proud 26-year veteran of our great United States Air Force.
Hopefully I have chosen the correct forum to post my question, but if not hopefully someone will direct me to the appropriate one.
Has anyone tried or succeeded, in removing the barrel from a Howa 1500 action (also same as Weatherby Vanguard and S&W 1500). In case it matters, the caliber is 300 win mag. I understand that it uses a metric thread? I am trying to avoid needing to use a gunsmith as there are none close to me.
Thank you in advance and I look forward to sharing what experience I have with others on this forum.
Tom

 

[Kp321]

Howa’s barrels are usually very tight. I had to make a relief cut at the front of the receiver ring on one to remove the barrel. The rest came loose with Kroil, time, heat, and a good barrel vise. If you put a different barrel on, they are metric threaded which requires a different set up on most lathes.

 

[BBBBill]

The Howa 1500 has been around for a long time with various different brandings. There was also the Mossberg, Inter Arms, and Legacy Sports variants. They never had much aftermarket support in spite of being a robust, solid value rifle. Now that Howa is pushing their Chassis Rifle variant I expect their may be a bit more attention directed toward the platform and more aftermarket options should start to show up.

 

[dfariswheel]

With rifle barrels proper tooling is CRITICAL.
Tooling isn't cheap. You may be better off shipping it to a qualified gunsmith and having it done for you.

That means a real gunsmiths barrel vise (NOT a shop vise no matter how big), and a real action wrench made for the specific brand or type rifle.

For tight barrels a hydraulic jack type vise with either hard oak or split brass rings is best, although you might be able to do it with a small bolt together "Vee" block vise that's bolted to a HEAVY bench. Note that the usual shop bench usually isn't sturdy enough, but you can use a truck bumper trailer hitch mount for these bolt type clamps.

For the receiver nothing will do but a receiver wrench or you'll bend or crack the receiver.
As above, in some cases you may have to use a lathe to machine off the barrel just in front of the receiver to break the torque.

Also note that the barrel will need to have the chamber reamed to set head space, and that also means a set of head space gauges.
Some barrels may need to be trimmed on a lathe to fit, but most today only need the chambering tools.

Brownell's is your friend....

https://www.brownells.com/default.aspx

 

[71GTO]

Thank you to everyone who replied and gave advise to my delema. After reading these replies and estimating the cost of the special tools required, not forgetting that I may still fail to get it loose without damage, I have decided that my best bet is to send it to a qualified Gunsmith and let them take care of it professionally.
Thanks again you guys, Tom

 

[dfariswheel]

A wise decision.

 

[HankC]

Gunsmith will charge you $125+, a barrel likely will cost you $200+ and over $300 from a top barrel maker, finish likely extra unless stainless, sell the rifle and buy one you like is cheaper.